Cotton-opener



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l. R. KITSON.

COTTON OPENER.

NO. 252,588. Patented Jan.17,1882.

M@ N... OW.

(NO Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. KITSON.

COTTON OPENER.

Patented Jan. 17,1882..

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Wam/Zw FFICE.

PATENT RICHARD KlTSON, OF LOVVELD, MASSACHSETTS.

COTTN-OPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 252,583, dated January1'7, 1882. Application filed May 2l, 1880. (No model.)

To alt whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD KITSON, of the city of Lowell, county ofMiddlesex, and State ot' Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulCotton-Opener, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to cotton openers in which the cotton, afer beingopened by one opening mechanism, is, before being fed to the beater,permitted to fall in a gage-box in which a constant'supply of cotton ismaintained, regardless of any irregularities in the quantity falling atdifferent times into it, and from the bottom of which a regular andconstant quantity is supplied to the beater.

The object of my invention is to provide the gage-box, or box into whichsuch a supply of cotton to be fed to the beater is maintained, with adead-air chamber to receive and hold any sand, dirt, or other foreignsubstances loosened by the preceding opening mechanism and prevent theirpassage to the beater with the cotton, and to provide a rotary screen orcylinder uponj which the cotton in the gagebox will be supported, and towhich the cotton will cling sufficiently to be carried forward in aregular sheet to the beater, and into which the lighter particles ofleaf loosened from the fiber may pass or be drawn by an inrushingcurrent of air created by withdrawing the air from such cylinder byconnecting it with au exhaust-fan usual in such machines. Iaccomplishthis object by the mechanism shown in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure l is a section of the device embodying my improvements.Fig/2 is a side elevation; and Fig. 3 is a ptrspectivc of the cylinderD, seen in Fig. 1.

Similarletters ofreference indicate like parts throughout the figures.

A is the gage-box, a,a pair of grasping-rolls by which the cotton istaken when brought within their grasp by an attendant moving it forwardover a feed-table, or by the action ot'an endless feed-apron upon whichit is placed, or by other feeding mechanism, and by which it is heldwhile acted upon by the breaker shaft or cylinder B, which is providedwith fingers or pins b. rlhis shaft rotates in the direction indicatedby the arrows near it.

C is the deadairv chamber, having an inclined top composed of bars c cplaced a small distance from one another on and over which the cotton orber enteiing the machine between the feed-rolls in the directionindicated by the horizontal arrow (being opened by the action ofthelingers b upon it) falls. The arrows within the gage-box indicate thegeneral direction of the cotton in passing through it. As the fiber isopened by thengers above, the

dirt, sand, leaf, or other foreign matters which.

areloosened from the fiber are projected against the upper and backportion ofthe gage-box by the rotary motion of the shaft and fingers andslide over and fall upon these bars with the ber. The smaller andheavier particles not closely entangled with the bers fall between thebars into the dead-air space, While tlle cotton slides over the bars andfalls to the bottom of the box upon the gauze cylinder D. The barsforming the top of the d-ead-airchamber are preferably placed parallelwith the breaker-shaft B, in the arc ot' a circle, beginning behind theshaft and extending downward and under the shaft until the line oftheperpendicular of the edge ofthe shaft or cylinder is over the bars, sothat everything which passes into the machine must fall upon the barsbefore it can reach the bottom of the gagebox.l These bars may,^however,be disposed in any other convenient position which may be foundadvantageous to attain ythe end desired.

The. cylinder D may be connected in the ordinary and well-knownmannerwith an exhaustfan, which draws into the cylinder such small motesorpieces of leaf or other foreign matter as, heilig very light, do notfall into the deadair chamber above described.

The connecting-flue through which the air is exhausted from thecylinderD is shown at r in Fig. 2, and its end (not shown) opens into thecaseoftheordinarywell-knownexhaust-fan, which is placed beneath thecollecting-cages upon which the lap is formed of the cotton after itleaves the beater. This dueis a sheetmetal pipe placed outside of theframe ot' the machine, with its ends curved to connect with openings tothe cylinder and fan. rlhe cylinder D, revolving toward the feed-rollsee, carries the liber toward them and presents fresh and uncoveredsurface for the falling* cotton to be deposited upon. The cotton fallingupon this cylinder is carried out between the feedrolls e e to thebeater f, which may be of any of the known forms desired.

G is a compression-roll, which is used to gather theloose ber into asheet-likeforrn, acting, in conjunction with the cylinder D, upon thefiber prior to its reaching the feed-rolls c e.

The several parts may be driven by belts, as indicated by the dottedlines in Fig'. 2, or by belts or gears driven by other convenientshafts, as may desired.

What I claim as new and of my invention is l. The combination of thegage-box A, grasping-rolls a, breaker-shaft B, provided with the fingersb b. and the dead-air chamber C, havin;r a grated inclined top,substantially as described.

2. The combination, with mechanism for opening the cotton, of' gage-boxA, provided with the dead-air chamber C, having the grated top uponwhich the cotton acted upon by said opening mechanism falls, the rolls ee, and beaterf, substantially as described.

3. The combination of gage-box A, gauze cylinder D, feed-rolls e e, andbeater f, substantially as described.

4. The combination ot' the grasping-rolls a 3o Witnesses:

S. KI'rsoN, DAVID HALL RICE.

